Title III Grant

Math may be difficult, daunting, and anxiety-producing, but help is available. Student peer mentors can provide the extra help and support that students may need to be successful in their math classes and maybe even in their majors.

Elizabeth Barkley, Ph.D., one of the nation’s leading authors in teaching and learning, will facilitate workshops for Fairmont State faculty on Tuesday, January 13, 2015. Barkley’s workshop—“Practical and Effective Strategies to Get Your Students Engaged”—will be held at 9-11:30 a.m. with a repeating session at 1-3:30 p.m. Both sessions will take place in the Falcon Center’s third floor conference rooms.

Over the summer, two student peer mentors in the School of Business presented at the Student Success Summit, a statewide conference for educators co-sponsored by the West Virginia Department of Education and the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.

Effy Kim has served as a peer mentor for the School of Business since Fall 2013. Effy was born in Seoul, Republic of Korea. She moved to Sterling Heights, Michigan, when she was fifteen and graduated from Parkway Christian School in 2011. She transferred to Fairmont State University in 2012, where she is studying Information Systems Management with a minor in Accounting. Her anticipated graduation date is May 2016. She loves the friendly environment of Fairmont State University.

The peer mentoring program in the School of Business aims to do more than just help students succeed in difficult courses; it provides opportunities for students to become independent learners who are prepared for the future.

Dr. Robynn K. Shannon, who joined the Title III team in February 2014 as the STEM Learning Coordinator, enjoys a challenging puzzle.

“One thing I love about teaching and learning is the intellectual challenge of teaching itself: how to facilitate, enhance, inspire, motivate and model learning,” Shannon said. “For me, teaching—more specifically how to teach effectively—is like a brain-teaser puzzle, which is what makes it so interesting.”

Sarah Pickett was born and raised in Charleston, West Virginia. She attended Riverside High School in Belle, West Virginia. She enrolled in Fairmont State University in the fall of 2010. After exploring a series of programs of study, she made her way to the School of Business, where she is majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance and a minor in Accounting. Her anticipated graduation is May 2015.

Fairmont State University’s new Business Learning Coordinator, Dr. Stephen Moore, understands the struggles that students sometimes have in the classroom, and he is on a mission to make sure they have opportunities to succeed.

“I had a lot of hardships as a freshman and sophomore in college, and I feel that students should not have to deal with a lot of the things that I dealt with,” Moore said.

Alex Campbell was born and raised in the Seattle area of Washington State. He was homeschooled by his parents, Robert and Grace Campbell, all the way through high school. In 2012, he transferred to Fairmont State University, where he is studying accounting with a minor in information systems. His anticipated graduation is May 2015. Alex loves the campus and the classroom sizes and feels quite at home in his new surroundings.